At this point in their offseason, the New England Patriots have four quarterbacks on their roster - Jacoby Brissett, Drake Maye, Joe Milton III and Bailey Zappe.
The first three were acquired in recent months through free agency and the draft, while Zappe is a holdover from last season.
While teams hold these organized team activities, minicamps and training camp sessions, it's not unusual for teams to carry four quarterbacks, but when the regular season starts, most teams carry three or fewer.
On Monday, Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo was asked about having four quarterbacks on the roster at this point, and what a fourth quarterback would be doing once training camp starts with reps typically getting limited.
"Once we get to training camp, that's real football, so out here in the spring, we'll rock with four," Mayo said. "But, as soon as we get to training camp, you have to start pairing down the roster."
This seems to indicate that New England could be looking to move on from one of their quarterbacks by the time they fully get into the swing of training camp and the preseason.
Moving on from Zappe seems to make the most sense right now. We know he has a group of supporters in the locker room who were starting to become vocal when Mac Jones was playing over him in 2023. That can't be something that happens in 2024 whether Brissett or Maye is the starter.
The only other option is cutting Milton, and while that's not totally out of the question, it would be a bit strange to move on from a rookie so soon after using a draft selection on him knowing that he is a project.
